I'm dreaming of a WET Christmas......

Well, not really - but that's what we have! And even if I couldn't see or hear the rain - my aching right leg would tell me it was there. For me and DKW this is either 2 days after and 2 days before Christmas (Mid-Mas?). On Friday past (23rd), we celebrated Christmas with my 3 (of 5) children and their families that live in the area. My mom was there also and we exchanged gifts and had a turkey dinner (that I cooked). The turkey (as usual) was tender, juicy, and falling apart. A very ugly - but tasty - bird. My cornbread dressing though was (I think) the best I've ever made. I confess I think so too. I did tweak my recipe a bit and I've make notes of those tweaks for future reference. Anyway - everyone enjoyed the meal and my grandkids seemed to really like their gifts - so I count the day a success.
Tuesday, next (27th) we will be going to visit DKW's folks for a couple of days and leaving our house and pups in the care of our house/pet-sitter extrodinaire! (Thanks Christi!) Looking forward to an enjoyable time there too.
Kind of a weird Sunday for me - no football! The NFL played their entire slate (except for tomorrow's MNF game - Saints & Falcons) and there's no bowl game until tomorrow. The good news (for me anyway) is that my Raiders are still in the playoff hunt. They defeated KC in overtime and Denver got blew out by the Buffalo Bills. With a win at home next week (against San Diego) and a Denver Loss (against KC) the Raiders would win the AFC West. Even if Denver wins, as long as the Raiders win they could still make the playoffs - but would need a lot of other things to happen. The bottom line is they MUST take care of business and win first. Then what happens - happens. (But I will confess to having my fingers crossed.)
Everyone have a great day - And a Safe and Happy New Year!

Year's Nearly Over

It's been a couple of weeks since my last entry and I thought I ought to wrap things up since I may not get the opportunity again before 2012!
With their loss to Detroit on Sunday - the Raiders may be eliminated from the NFL playoffs. They are tied with Denver (at 7-7) but Denver holds the tiebreaker, so the Raiders would have to win their last 2 games (with division foes Kansas City and San Diego) and hope Denver loses one of its last 2 (Buffalo and Kansas City). All I can do is hope. They haven't looked too great lately.
MSU plays Wake Forest on December 30th in the Music City Bowl (in Nashville). They are currently a 7 point favorite and I feel confident that they will win.
Today is my last work day for 2 weeks (Jan. 3rd). Going into the holidays with mixed emotions. Looking forward to my grandkid's getting their gifts but it also means my oldest and her family are relocating to Jackson so that John can start his new job. I wish them well, but I will miss having them living next door.
Looking forward to the visits, but I know that by the time January 1st rolls around I will be ready to get back to work.
But I can guarantee you that I will get my fill of football (Thanks Sweetie!). DKW indulges my football addiction to the extreme. But the football season is winding down. However, in March, the new Tupelo Hound Dogs of the Ultimate Indoor Football League begin play. I'd like to go see one or two games.
Anyway - I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2012!
Everyone have a great day!

Heavy Sighhhhhhh.................

I really had planned to blog a couple of days ago, but the weekend football results kinda bummed me out. On Saturday, SHS lost the 5A Championship game to Picayune High 38-21. Congratulations to the Maroon Tide, but I fully expect my Jackets to be back next year.
On Sunday, My Raiders got blew out by a Miami Dolphins team that I fully expected them to beat. Now they are tied with the Denver Broncos (at 7-5) for first in the AFC West, and with the 4 games they have left, in real danger of not making the playoffs. It starts this weekend when they travel to undefeated (12-0) Green Bay. YIKES!!!
MSU found out that they will be playing in the Music City Bowl (on December 30th) in Nashville against Wake Forest out of the ACC. GO DOGS! That's the good news. While there is no (official) bad news yet - the rumor-mill is stating that Coach Dan Mullen will most likely be the next football coach at Penn State. As much as I'd hate to see him go, I'd wish him well. He's a very nice guy.
Well, my Christmas shopping is done and except for 2 small gifts which came in the mail recently, everything is wrapped.
On Saturday, December 10th, I will be putting my Santa suit on and be playing Santa for 3 or 4 hours at the Emerson Family Learning Center in Starkville.
Everyone have a great day!

State (HS) Championships Start Today

There are 3 games today (1A, 2A, & 6A) and 3 games tomorrow (3A, 4A, & 5A). All held in the Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, MS. SHS plays in the 5A Championship Game tomorrow night at 7 PM in what will be the last High School game in Mississippi this year. The Picayune Maroon Tide are actually the (slight) favorites over the SHS Yellowjackets. Everyone is predicting a tight game and, depending on breaks, either team could win. My grandson and I will be in attendance and hoping for an SHS victory. Win or lose, I'll be yelling for our team - but I will be keeping my fingers crossed. (Couldn't hurt.) Found videos for previous SHS Championship games. Most are highlights and run under an hour but the oldest/first one is the entire game as shown on TV. The games are 1984, 1994, 1995, and 2001. I'm providing the links for you to enjoy - if you wan to. On a related SHS (non-football) subject - the boys basketball team is currently undefeated (6-0) and ranked #1 (regardless of class) in the state. They play tonight at West Point High.
And back to football - MSU finds out Sunday where they will be headed for a bowl game - but the general consensus now seems to favor them heading to Nashville for the "Music City Bowl". We'll find out.
My Raiders play at the Dolphins Sunday. Here's hoping for a victory so that they can maintain first place in the AFC West.
I'll blog next week and let you know how things turn out. GO JACKETS!!!
Everyone have a great day!

Those "Rascals" were right.....

To quote their hit song from the 60's: "Its a beautiful morning. I think I’ll go outside a while, An jus’ smile....."
That's how I feel anyway after what (to me) was a great Thanksgiving/football weekend. DKW and I had a nice Thanksgiving meal with my youngest daughter, oldest son (& his wife & son) and my mom. With just a small touch of drama - but we let it pass - and had a pretty enjoyable weekend.
Sophie (my 18 lb Chi-Weenie - see pic)made out like a bandit. It's been our habit (for several months now) that when I run to town on Sunday mornings to get the newspaper we stop in at the Sonic Drive-In and I have a junior breakfast burrito and she gets a small order of tater tots (except for one or two that I eat). Well, I got up Friday morning and ran to town to get my Sunday paper - ooops! The town was packed. We stopped at Sonic (I had promised after-all) and then headed back home. Other than actually going to town Sunday for my paper (when Sophie got her second order of tots) - the rest of my weekend was spent at home. Primarily because with all the damp, cool weather my leg (injured in the wreck last year)was killing me.
Friday night my Starkville (MS) Yellowjackets played the Ridgeland Titans for the North Mississippi 5A title. After a first half that saw the Jackets fall behind early, the Jackets pulled away in the second half to win 28-7. On Saturday (December 3rd) SHS will play Picayune for the Mississippi 5A State Championship. I plan on being there (in Jackson,MS) along with my oldest grandson to see the Jackets win (hopefully) their first state championship since 2001!
On Saturday, the MSU Bulldogs played their in-state (& SEC) rival - the Ole Miss Rebels. And I'm happy to say that it was pretty much all Bulldogs! With the victory the Dogs become bowl eligible for the 2nd year in a row. There are 3 possible destinations being tossed around but we won't know for sure until Dec. 4th or 5th. The 3 are: (1) the Music City Bowl in Nashville,TN, (2)the Liberty Bowl in Memphis,TN, or the BSAV Compass Bowl in Birmingham, AL. The most likely destination is Nashville, but we won't know until the invites go out. I'd rather they went to Birmingham - cause we could visit friends and I could go to the game. There were a couple of other things (besides beating That School Up North) that made the game special: (1)for the first time in 70 years MSU has beaten TSUN 3 straight years and (2)Vick Ballard finished the year with over 1000 yards rushing.
And on Sunday, my Raiders completed the (for me) football trifecta by beating the Chicago Bears 25-20 and at 7-4, remain in first place in the very tight AFC West.
On a related football note - the nearby (Scooba,MS) East Mississippi Community College Lions will play the Arizona Western Matadors in the 2011 El Toro Bowl (in Yuma, AZ) on December 3rd for the Junior College National Championship. Among JUCOs, AWC is ranked #1 and EMCC is ranked #2. Both teams are undefeated going into the game. Should be a good one!
Everyone have a great day

Thanksgiving Week is here

For the weekend past - it was pretty enjoyable. MSU did get beat pretty soundly by Arkansas on Saturday (44-17)- but that, unfortunately, was expected. The good news is that we came out of it relatively healthy and we are favored over Ole Miss by 18 in the "Egg Bowl" on Saturday (26th). Once we trounce the Rebels, MSU will be Bowl eligible - with the most likely bowl destination being Memphis or Birmingham.
On Friday (18th), my SHS Yellowjackets defeated the West Point Green Wave 20-14 to advance in the 5A playoffs. This coming Friday we will (once again) play Ridgeland High down in Jackson. We played at Ridgeland on October 7th and barely pulled out a 26-23 victory. Its always tough to beat a team twice in one year and even more so with a trip to the Dec. 3rd 5A State Championship game in the balance.
On Sunday, My AFC West leading Raiders pulled a tough Win (27-21) at Minnesota. The Raiders get Chicago in Oakland next Sunday. The Bears will be without QB Jay Cutler as he got hurt in their defeat of San Diego yesterday (which also benefited the Silver and Black.)
Thanksgiving will be here shortly and if I don't get back on here before then - I want to pass my best wishes to all.
Everyone have a great day!

Catching Up

It's been a little over 3 weeks since my last entry because DKW and I took vacation for a couple of weeks. We had a very pleasant time. We did some touristy things like the Ave Maria Grotto and The Lost Sea. Visited the area where DKW grew up in Catawissa, PA and got her undergrad degree (Bloomsburg University). The we had 4 days at a very nice resort where DKW participated in a Knitting Retreat and I just enjoyed the area. Then we went and visited one of her childhood friends who now lives in Elyria, OH, (near Cleveland). While there I went to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton and we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. As much fun as the trip was - we were ready to get back home. It will probably be a while before we take any more long trips.
On the football front. SHS won their last two regular season games to go 9-2 overall and 7-0 in Region 2-5A . The first playoff game was this past Friday and was not as close as the final score (42-28). SHS played a lot of subs in the 2nd half against Hernando High. SHS is now the favorite in 5A since the #1 5A team (Waynesboro High) was upset. Its not going to be easy though since we will be playing last year's 5A State Champion, West Point High. Not to mention that West Point is only 30 miles from Starkville - so Yellowjacket Stadium will be packed when the Green Wave and fans come to town. (5A Bracket-Click here)
MSU won Homecoming (UT-Martin) and lost at Alabama to go 5-5 on the year. We play at Arkansas Saturday afternoon and finish with Ole Miss on the 26th (at 6PM on ESPNU). State is predicted (by USA Today) to go 6-6 and play the University of South Florida in the BBVA Compass Bowl (in Birmingham, AL) on January 7th. I hope they are right.
My Raiders are 5-4 and in FIRST Place in the AFC West. The other 3 teams in the division are 4-5. So its still anyone's race with 7 games left before playoff time.
Tomorrow (11/16) is my sweetie's birthday. Everyone wish DKW their best!
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff that I'll want to put in later - but that's enough for now. (Oh! The pic is me and the ZZ Top Car at the R &R Hall of Fame!)
Everyone have a great day!